Why  All  Americans 

Should  Join 

the  National  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of 
Colored  People 


“It  is  a white  man’s  problem  which 
confronts  us.  The  fault  is  in  us,  not 
in  our  colored  neighbors.  It  is  our 
senseless  and  wicked  prejudice  against 
our  fellow-men  which  is  the  root  of  all 
our  troubles.” 

— MOORFIELD  STOREY 

President,  N.  A.  A.  C,  P. 

“Of  two  things,  we  Negroes  have 
dreamed  for  many  years:  an  organiza- 
tion so  effective  and  so  powerful  that 
when  discrimination  and  injustice 
touched  one  Negro,  it  would  touch 
12,000,000.  We  have  not  got  this  yet, 
but  we  have  taken  a great  step  toward 
it.  We  have  dreamed,  too,  of  an  organi- 
zation which  would  work  ceaselessly  to 
make  Americans  know  that  the  so-called 
‘Negro  problem’  is  simply  one  phase  of 
the  vaster  problem  of  democracy  in 
America,  and  that  those  who  wish  free- 
dom and  justice  for  their  country,  must 
wish  it  for  every  black  citizen.  This  is 
the  great  and  evermore  insistent  mes- 
sage of  the  National  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Colored  People.” 

— W.  E.  B.  DU  BOIS 

Director,  Publications  and  Research,  N.  A.  A,  C,  P, 


Some  Achievements  of  the  N.  A.  A.  C.  P.  in  the  year  1919 


THE  BALLOT 

Led  by  the  Atlanta,  Georgia,  Branch, 
Negroes  in  Atlanta  registered  3,000 
voters;  former  number  700.  They 
defeated  a bond  issue,  having  no  as- 
surance the  money  would  be  used  for 
colored  schools  and  succeeded  in  se- 
curing an  additional  grammar  school, 
the  promise  of  a second,  and  a de- 
finite promise  of  a first  high  school. 

Waco,  Texas,  Negroes  went  into 
court,  secured  the  right  to  vote  at 
Democratic  (white)  primaries  and 
organized  a Branch. 

Asheville,  N.  C.,  Falls  Church,  Va. 
and  Columbia,  S.  C.,  registered 
voters,  the  latter  securing  represen- 
tation on  jury. 

Northern  branches  have  used  their 
influence  to  secure  Civil  Rights  bills, 
notably  in  Michigan  (strong  efforts 
in  Ohio  failed) ; to  back  legislation  in- 
troduced into  congress  favorable  to 
the  Negro,  and  to  combat  discrimi- 
nation in  government  departments. 

The  National  Office  kept  watch  of 
Congressional  action  to  see  that  noth- 
ing to  hami)er  Negro  suffrage  went 
into  the  Federal  Woman  Suffrage 
Amendment. 


One  hundred  per  cent  Ameri- 
canism cannot  exist  until  all 
Americans  vote  on  all  issues  in 
all  states. 


LEGAL  DEFENSE 

Race  Riots  marked  the  year  1919. 
The  police  arrested  colored  citizens 
who  were  defending  their  homes  and 
often  failed  to  arrest  white  citizens 
who  left  their  homes  to  hunt  and 
shoot  Negroes. 

In  Chicago,  the  Branch  and  the 
N.  A.  A.  C.  P.  secured  the  ser’/ices 
of  eminent  lawyers  and  in  the  cases 
of  69  Negroes  tried  secured  the  ac- 
cpiittal  and  discharge  of  59. 

Months  before  the  Omaha  Riots, 
the  Omaha  Branch  worked  to  prevent 
the  printing  of  untrue  stories  by  the 
newspapers  regarding  the  attacks  of 
colored  men  upon  white  women. 

The  cases  of  the  twelve  men  sen- 
tenced to  be  executed  for  participating 
in  an  alleged  uprising  in  Elaine, 
Phillips  County,  Arkansas,  have  been 
appealed  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Association.  An  exposure  of  condi- 
tions of  peonage  in  the  cotton  belt 
will  accompany  their  trial. 

The  Anniston  Branch,  aided  by 
other  Branches  in  Alabama,  and  by 
the  Legal  Committee  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  Branch,  has  delayed  the 
execution  of  Edgar  C.  Caldwell,  a col- 
ored soldier,  whom  the  military  author- 
ities gave  to  the  civil  authorities. 


The  Law  Should  be  Co/or-Blind 


LYNCHING 

The  N.  A.  A.  C.  P.:— 

Promoted  First  National  Confer- 
ence on  Lynching,  held  in  New  York, 
May  5 and  6.  Issued  Address  to  the 
Nation,  signed  by  150  prominent 
citizens,  including  ex-President  Taft, 
Attorney-General  Palmer,  the  gover- 
nors of  seven  states  and  the  heads  of 
many  American  universities. 

Circulated  102,521  pamphlets  on 
lynching. 

Has  made  lynching  a National 
Issue. 

Upon  the  Association’s  request 
Senator  Curtis  of  Kansas  intro- 
duced a resolution  for  a Congressional 
Investigation  of  Lynching.  Con- 
gressman Dyer  of  Missouri  introduced 
a bill  to  make  lynching  a federal 
offense.  The  Association  organized 
and  gave  publicity  to  the  congres- 
sional hearings  on  these  bills  and  its 
officials  appeared  at  the  hearings. 

During  the  year  78  Negroes  were 
lynched.  Of  this  number  ten  were 
ex-soldiers.  Eleven  of  the  men  lynch- 
ed were  bmmed  alive.  In  no  instance 
were  the  offenders  punished.  The 
N.  A.  A.  C.  P.  believes  that  since 
the  state  is  powerless  to  punish  the 
offenders,  the  federal  government 
must  execute  the  law. 


Mob  Murder  Must  Go 


PUBLICITY 

13I  press  stories  were  sent  out  dur- 
ing the  year. 

27  new  pieces  of  literature  were 
printed. 

19  articles  were  contributed  by  the 
official  staff  to  leading  magazines. 

427,000,  nearly  half  a million, 
pieces  of  literature  were  distributed 
throughout  the  country. 

The  Crisis,  organ  of  the  Association, 
with  a paid-up  circulation  of  100,000, 
reached  every  state  in  the  union  and 
was  sold  on  every  continent. 


The  Association  reaches  millions  of 
readers  through  its  publicity  service. 

Colored  and  white  readers  of  news- 
papers throughout  the  United  States 
are  kept  informed  of  legislation  intro- 
duced in  Congress,  of  the  results  of 
Congressional  hearings,  legal  defense 
of  the  Negro’s  Civil  Rights,  wrongs 
which  require  redress. 

Every  public  official,  from  Gover- 
nor to  Sheriff,  who  upholds  the  law 
against  the  mob,  is  commended  in 
dispatches  published  in  the  white 
press  from  coast  to  coast.  Through 
the  colored  press,  colored  people  are 
made  to  feel  their  solidarity  in  striv- 
ing against  violenee  and  injustice. 


Let  The  Facts  Speak 


BRANCHES,  1919 

The  Association  increased  from,  165 
Branches  to  310  Branches.  The 
membership  increased  from  42,723 
members  to  91,203  members.  The 
Branches  are  distributed  as  follows: 


Section  and  Division 

No.  of 
Branches 

Member- 

ship 

The  North 

120 

38,420 

The  South 

154 

42,588 

The  West 

33 

7,440 

Outside  United  States 

3 

255 

Members  at  Large  (Resi- 
dence not  specified) . . . . 

2,500 

The  N.  A.  A.  C.  P.  is  organized  in 
42  States.  In  5 years  it  has  grown 
from  24  Branches  and  3,000  members 
to  its  present  membership  of  over 
91,000.  Every  Branch  means  that 
justice  to  the  Negro  and  full  Negro 
citizenship  is  so  much  nearer  realiza- 
tion. 

Every  Branch  links  the  local  com- 
munity with  the  nation  and  binds 
the  members  of  one  Branch  with  the 
members  of  all  Branches. 

A united  front  will  secure  the 
Negro’s  Full  Citizenship  Rights. 


The  Tenth  Anniversary  of  the 
N.  A.  A.  C.  P.  was  celebrated  at 
Cleveland,  O.,  June  22  to  29,1919 


APPLICATION  FOR  MEMBERSHIP 


MEMBERSHIP 


“Any  person  may  become  and  remain  a member 
of  this  Association  with  the  consent  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  by  accepting  membership 
in  writing  and  by  paying  annually  in  advance 
a fee  of  at  least  one  dollar. 

“Any  person  paying  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
or  more  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  the  CRISIS 
without  further  charge  during  the  year  of  such 
membership.” — By-Laws. 


c 

C5 


O 

<1 

Q 

<! 

a 


K 

O 

Z 

o 

O 

O 

tC 

m 

< 

Z 

O 

H 

<! 

a „ 


o 

-o 


o 

>H  I 

ss 

H ® 

O 

H 


u 

o 


0>  C 

2 

ci  to 
4) 


zn 


2 S 
S!  S 

ro 

^ a 

C5 

o 

a 

o 

U 


"O 


National  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Colored  People 

70  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


NATIONAL  OFFICERS 
President 

Moorfield  Storey 
Vice-Presidents 
Archibald  H.  GRiMKfe 
Rev.  John  Haynes  Holmes 
Bishop  John  Hurst 
.Arthur  B.  Spingarn 
Oswald  Garrison  Villard 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICERS 
John  R.  Shillady,  Secretary 
J.  E.  Spingarn,  Treasurer 
Dr.  W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois,  Director  of  Publi- 
cations and  Research 

James  Weldon  Johnson,  Field  Secretary 
William  Pickens,  Associate  Field  Secretary 
Walter  F.  White,  Assistant  Secretary 

BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 
Chairman,  Mary  White  Ovington,  New  York 

.lane  Addams 

Dr.  J.  Max  Barber 

Dr.  C.  E.  Bentley 

Rev.  Hutchens  C.  Bishop 

Hon.  Arthur  Capper 

E.  Burton  Ceruti 

R.  R.  Church 

Prof.  George  W'illiam  Cook 
George  W.  Crawford 
Harry  E.  Davis 
Dr.  W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois 
Archibald  H.  Grimk^ 

Rev.  John  Haynes  Holmes 
Bishop  John  Hurst 
Dr.  V.  Morton-Jones 
Florence  Kelley 
Paul  Kennaday 
Joseph  Prince  Loud 
John  E.  Milholland 
Hon.  Charles  Nagel 
Harry  H.  Pace 
Charles  Edward  Russell 
Dr.  William  A.  Sinclair 
Arthur  B.  Spingarn 
J.  E.  Spingarn 
Moorfield  Storey 
Charles  II.  Studin 
Mary  B.  Talbert 
Neval  H.  Thomas 
Lillian  D.  Wald 
Rev.  G.  R.  Waller 
William  English  Walling 
Butler  R.  Wilson 
Col.  Charles  Young 


1 


